Swimming With The Whale Sharks

Due to a lull in the mission schedule, signed up for a snorkling trip to in the Gulf of Tadjourah on the eastern coast of Djibouti.  Whale Sharks migrate to Djibouti in November and stay until the end of January.  The whale shark is the largest fish in the ocean and truly a gentle giant. 

Whale sharks are filter feeders and eat plankton.  Although whale sharks can grow up to 40 feet and weigh 79,000 pounds, the migration pattern around Djibouti typically brings in adolescent whale sharks that vary from 14 to 18 feet in length.  Since my pictures turned out blurry or lacked brilliance, I obtained the underwater pictures from a military brother...awesome job!

After swimming with the whale sharks, we returned to the boat and had the opportunity to snorkel around the bay which contained a corral reef.  The reef contained a variety of colorful fish and a couple schools of barracuda...visibilty was approximately 25 feet and the guide stated the water temperature was 78 degrees.

Thanks to Dolphin Excursions for a great day...next goal is to knock the dust off that PADI Scuba card.